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The book was written nine years after Allegro's forced resignation from academia due to publishing The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. It is an imaginative look at what life would have been like at Qumran, West Bank at the time when Jesus was supposed to have lived in the 1st century CE.[8]

The book's aim was to show the logical progression of Jewish history through the writings and archaeology of Qumran, as opposed to the (unique) revelation of traditional Christianity.[9] Allegro suggested that traditional Christianity developed through a literal mis-interpretation of symbolic narratives found in the scrolls by writers who did not understand the minds of the Essenes. He further argued that Gnostic Christianity developed directly from the Essenes and that Jesus Christ was a fictional character based on a real person, who had helped established the Essene movement (or "Way") and lived in the 1st century BCE, around one hundred years before the traditional period of New Testament events.[1] In a chapter entitled "Will the real Jesus Christ please stand up", Allegro referred to this man as the Teacher of Righteousness.[3][7]

There was a lot of excitement in Jerusalem when Allegro published the book.[10] Numerous rebuttals were published,[11] and other members of the team pointed out the problems with Allegro's arguments.[9] Despite this, Allegro's ideas were promoted thanks to efforts of essayist Edmund Wilson, supported by scholar David Flusser.[9] Wilson wrote both a magazine article[12] and a book on the subject.[13] The press widely publicized Allegro's claims of connections with Christian origins, which have influenced the entire shape and focus of reporting on the subject of the scrolls ever since.[9][14]Randall Price called Allegro "the father of scroll sensationalists" for his interpretations of the scrolls.[15] Allegro believed that there was a conspiracy to prevent publication of the scrolls because they could damage the image of Jesus, this was later repeated by conspiracy theory writers such as Richard Leigh and Michael Baigent in their book The Dead Sea Scrolls Deceptions.[1]

While Allegro made several contributions, such as spreading awareness of the scrolls and convincing everyone that they were relevant to an understanding of Christianity, his theories about the relationship of the scrolls to Jesus led to his downfall.[1]

Allegro previously published The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross in 1970, with even more theories about Jesus. Allegro was heavily criticized by many scholars, including his own mentor at Oxford, and the publisher had to issue an apology.[1] Allegro's scholarly reputation was destroyed, and he had to resign from his academic position.[1]

The book also spawned a CBS documentary film in 1985 entitled Healers of the Dead Sea, which Allegro narrated and produced with Douglas Edwards.[2]